Pioneering Past and Bright of Impactful Research and Scholarly Achievements

“EXCELLENCE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE” P A G E 79 Editor’s Note: This research was published in full in the Journal of Arts, Science & Technology, Volume 4, 2011. leading cause of death in the developed countries (O’Sullivan & Schmitz, 2001), and that in the United States (US), it is recorded as the third leading cause of death, exceeded only by coronary heart disease and cancer. According to O’Sullivan (2001), stroke kills someone every 3 minutes in the US and that about 3 million women and 2.5 million men in that country die yearly from stroke complications. The Stroke Association, UK reported that in 1995, stroke accounted for almost 60,000 deaths in England and Wales, representing 10% of all deaths - 8 % for males and 13% for females. In Jamaica, about 200 people died of stroke in 2002. Hypertension, a major risk factor for stroke, is present in 3 out of 10 Jamaicans over the age of 30. Patients who survived stroke assaults often suffer minor to severe impairments, exhibited in form of deficits in motor control resulting in, among others, inability to speak or walk or both. They typically suffer dysfunctions that impair the complex set of motions involved in walking. Walking has been recorded as one of the main problems for stroke patients in the post-acute phase. Impairments in walking, according to Curtis (1998) and Kaye (2000) make it difficult for these individuals to form relationships and carry out economic function, and can result in feelings of isolation due to the constraint of being a full functioning member of the society. It is a worthwhile effort then to pursue any research that can offer solution when walking skill is impaired. Walking, according to Perry (1992) and O’Sullivan & Schmitz (2001), is a complex set of neurological and mechanical processes that inform postures and movement. Molner (2002) showed that the brain is actively involved in the signals that help with balance, coordination, and orientation necessary for walking. Recovery from stroke and its attendant incapacitation such as walking is said to be based largely on the capacity of the brain for reorganization and adaptation and that for a meaningful outcome, solution must involve practice which is highly attended, repeated, rewarded, and carried out over time. This researchattempts at offering analternative intervention techniqueusing computer technology which is capable of providing the frequency, intensity, time, and reward needed to improve the walking skills in patients with stroke assaults, especially those in the post-abuse stage.